The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

NORTON, MA- Junior Samantha O'Keefe (Carlisle, MA/Concord-Carlisle Regional) tallied the game's last two goals during a 10.7-second span in the final 43 seconds of action, leading the fifth-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) women's lacrosse team to its first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament win, edging fourth seed and host Wheaton College, 13-12 in the first round on Wednesday at Keefe Field.

The Lyons finish their season at 7-10, while the 5-7 Engineers, who hadn't advanced to a conference tournament semifinal since 1995, will travel to nationally-ranked Babson College to take on the top-seeded Beavers on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.

A trio of 3-0 spurts, two by the hosts and one by MIT, pushed Wheaton out to a 6-3 advantage 17:56 into play, as seniors Sara Dimick (Cumberland, ME/Greely) and Meredith Hurd (Bath, ME/Hyde School) scored twice apiece. Trailing 7-4 with under three minutes to play before the break, the Engineers strung together three quick goals in 2:31 to knot the contest heading into the half.

The Lyons began the second stanza with two goals over the first 10:43 of action, but sophomore Casey Flynn (Silver Spring, MD/Georgetown Visitation Prep) answered at 15:38 to cut the gap to one. Junior Caitlin Grant (Walpole, MA/Walpole) and Hurd notched goals 1:15 apart to extend the Wheaton lead to 11-8 before MIT rallied with three straight goals and five of the game's final six.

Dimick, Grant and Hurd each finished with a hat trick, with Dimick also assisting a goal, while junior Madeline Williams (Annapolis, MD/Key School) added a tally and an assist. Freshman goalie Annalisa Carson (Yarmouth, ME/Yarmouth) was solid between the pipes with 14 saves.

O'Keefe led all scorers with four goals to go alongside one assist, while Flynn finished with five points on two tallies and a trio of helpers. First-year Erica Little (Sherborn, MA/Saint Mark's School) had a hat trick and one assist. Freshman goalkeeper Monique Squiers (Grosse Pointe Shores, MI/University Liggett School) made four saves.

2008 NEWMAC WOMEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT
MIT 13, Wheaton 12

SCORING                     1st        2nd       Final
MIT (5-7)                         7          6          13
Wheaton (7-10)              7          5          12

Cumulative Scoring:
Goals: WC- Sara Dimick 3, Caitlin Grant 3, Meredith Hurd 3, Tess Meyer, Bridget Thornton, Madeline Williams; MIT- Samantha O'Keefe 4, Erica Little 3, Stephanie Brenman 2, Casey Flynn 2, Laura Watson 2

Assists: WC- Dimick, Williams, Alexa Jurczak; MIT- Flynn 3, Little, O'Keefe, Kelly Duncan, Lily He

Goalkeeper Saves: WC- Annalisa Carson 14; MIT- Monique Squiers 4

MIT Collects First NEWMAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Win with 13-12 Thriller Over Wheaton